Jodie Foster plans more French roles after 'A Private Life'

"After dozens of films over a storied six-decade career, Jodie Foster is trying something new, playing the lead role in a French film for the very first time. There's hardly a trace of an American accent in Foster's turn as Parisian therapist Lilian Steiner in A Private Life (Vie privee) and she appears to be very much at home. The character she plays is an American woman who built her career in France."

"So director Rebecca Zlotowski added some small asides and swearing in English because of Foster's brisk and fluent French. "People suddenly were just completely confused that I wasn't a French person," the actress said. All apparent ease aside, "I have a different personality in French than I do in English," Foster told Morning Edition host Leila Fadel during a recent visit to NPR's New York studios."

"Her voice has a higher pitch in French, something she attributes to the French ladies who taught her at the private school she attended, Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles. Foster also had some smaller roles in three French films prior to A Private Life, including in 2004's A Very Long Engagement. "I'm just much more insecure and kind of vulnerable because I never know whether I'm communicating properly. And, you know, am I going to find that word at the last minute?" Foster said."

Jodie Foster takes the lead in a French-language film for the first time, portraying Parisian therapist Lilian Steiner in A Private Life (Vie privée). Her performance carries almost no American accent, reflecting a character who is an American that built her career in France. Director Rebecca Zlotowski added brief English asides and swearing to accommodate Foster's fluent French. Foster reports a different personality and higher vocal pitch when speaking French, a trait she links to teachers at Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles. She previously held smaller roles in French films, including A Very Long Engagement. Both actor and character display insecurity and vulnerability tied to language and emotional strain. Steiner appears frazzled, distracted from patients and family, and experiences persistent tearing that becomes a psychosomatic expression of grief after a patient's death.

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